CHAPTER IV.
COMMENCING WITH PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH NIGHT, AND ENDING WITH PART OF
THE TWENTY-FOURTH.
THE STORY OF THE THREE APPLES, &c.[IV_1]
One night, after the adventure above described, the Khaleefeh Hároon
Er-Rasheed said to Jaạfar, his Wezeer, We will go down to-night into the
city, and inquire respecting the affairs of those who are at present in
authority, and him against whom any one shall complain we will displace.
Jaạfar replied, I hear and obey:--and when the Khaleefeh had gone forth
with him and Mesroor, and they had passed through several of the
market-streets, they proceeded along a lane, and saw there an old man,
with a net and basket upon his head, and a staff in his hand, walking at
his leisure, and reciting these verses:--
They say to me, Thou shinest among mankind, by thy knowledge,
like the moonlight night:
But I answer, Abstain from thus addressing me, since there is no
knowledge without power:
For if they would pawn me, and my knowledge with me, and all my papers
and inkhorn too,
For one day's food, they would never find the pledge accepted to
the day of judgment.
As for the poor, and his condition, and his whole life, how full of
trouble!
In the summer he fails to earn his food, and in winter he warms
himself over the fire-pot.[IV_2]
The dogs follow him wherever he goes, and any reviler, and he cannot
repel him.
If he states his case, and proves himself wronged, the judge will not
admit his plea.
Such, then, being the poor man's life, his fittest place is in
the burial-ground.[IV_3]
The Khaleefeh, when he heard his recitation, said to Jaạfar, Observe
this poor man, and consider these verses; for they indicate his
necessity. Then approaching the man, he said to him, O sheykh, what is
thine occupation?--O my master, answered the old man, I am a fisherman,
and have a family to maintain, and I went forth from my house at noon,
and have remained until now, but God hath allotted me nothing wherewith
to obtain food for my household; therefore I have hated myself, and
wished for death.--Wilt thou, said the Khaleefeh, return with us to the
river, and station thyself on the bank of the Tigris, and cast thy net
for my luck? If thou wilt do so I will purchase of thee whatever cometh
up for a hundred pieces of gold.--The fisherman rejoiced when he heard
these words, and said, On my head be your commands: I will return with
you.--So he went again to the river, and cast his net, and, having
waited till it sank, drew the cords, and dragged back the net, and there
came up in it a chest, locked and heavy. When the Khaleefeh saw it, he
felt its weight, and found it to be heavy; and he gave a hundred pieces
of gold to the fisherman, who went away, while Mesroor, assisted by
Jaạfar, took up the chest, and conveyed it, in company with the
Khaleefeh, to the palace, where they lighted the candles, and placed the
chest before the Khaleefeh. Jaạfar and Mesroor then broke it open, and
they found in it a basket of palm-leaves sewed up with red worsted; and
they cut the threads, and saw within it a piece of carpet, and, lifting
up this, they found beneath it an izár,[IV_4] and when they had
taken up the izár they discovered under it a damsel like molten silver,
killed, and cut in pieces.
When the Khaleefeh beheld this, tears ran down his cheeks, and, looking
towards Jaạfar, he exclaimed, O dog of Wezeers, shall people be murdered
in my time, and be thrown into the river, and become burdens upon my
responsibility? By Allah, I must retaliate for this damsel upon him who
killed her, and put him to death!--Then said he to Jaạfar, By the truth
of my descent from the Khaleefehs of the sons of El-'Abbás, if thou do
not bring to me him who killed this woman, that I may avenge her upon
him, I will crucify thee at the gate of my palace, together with forty
of thy kinsmen![IV_5] And the Khaleefeh was enraged.--Grant me,
said Jaạfar, a delay of three days.--I grant thee the delay, replied the
Khaleefeh. Jaạfar then went forth from his presence, and took his route
through the city, sorrowful, and saying within himself, How shall I
discover him who killed this damsel, that I may take him before the
Khaleefeh? And if I take to him any other person, he will become a
weight upon my conscience. I know not what to do.--For three days he
remained in his house, and on the fourth day the Khaleefeh sent to
summon him, and, when he had presented himself before him, said to him,
Where is the murderer of the damsel?--O Prince of the Faithful, answered
Jaạfar, am I acquainted with things hidden from the senses, that I
should know who is her murderer? The Khaleefeh, incensed at this answer,
gave orders to crucify him at the gate of his palace, and commanded a
crier to proclaim through the streets of Baghdád, Whosoever desireth to
amuse himself by seeing the crucifixion of Jaạfar El-Barmekee, the
Wezeer of the Khaleefeh, and the crucifixion of his kinsmen, at the gate
of the Khaleefeh's palace, let him come forth and amuse himself.--So the
people came forth from every quarter to see the crucifixion of Jaạfar
and his kinsmen; and they knew not the cause of this. The Khaleefeh then
gave orders to set up the crosses; and they did so, and placed the
Wezeer and his kinsmen beneath, to crucify them, and were awaiting the
Khaleefeh's permission, while the people wept for Jaạfar and his
relatives.
But while they were thus waiting, a handsome and neatly-dressed young
man came forward quickly through the crowd, and, approaching the Wezeer,
said to him, Safety to thee from this predicament, O chief of Emeers,
and refuge of the poor! It was I who killed the woman whom ye found in
the chest: kill me therefore for her, and retaliate her death upon
me.--When Jaạfar heard these words, he rejoiced for his own deliverance,
and grieved for the young man: but while he was speaking to him, lo, an
old sheykh pressed hastily through the crowd to him and the young man,
and, having saluted them, said, O Wezeer, believe not the words of this
young man, for no one killed the damsel but myself; therefore retaliate
her death upon me. The young man, however, said, O Wezeer, this is an
old man, imbecile through age; he knoweth not what he saith: it was I
who killed her; avenge her therefore upon me.--O my son, said the
sheykh, thou art young, and wilt find pleasure in the world; and I am
old, and satiated with the world: I will be a ransom for thee and for
the Wezeer and his kinsmen; and no one killed the damsel but myself: by
Allah, therefore, hasten to retaliate upon me.
On witnessing this scene, the Wezeer was astonished; and he took the
young man and the sheykh to the Khaleefeh, and said, O Prince of the
Faithful, the murderer of the damsel hath come.--Where is he? said the
Khaleefeh. This young man, answered Jaạfar, saith, I am the
murderer;--and this sheykh accuseth him of falsehood, and saith, Nay,
but _I_ am the murderer.--The Khaleefeh, looking towards the sheykh and
the young man, said, Which of you killed this damsel? The young man
answered, No one killed her but myself:--and the sheykh said also, No
one killed her but myself. The Khaleefeh therefore said to Jaạfar, Take
them both and crucify them.--If the murderer be one, replied Jaạfar, to
kill the other would be unjust. The young man then said, By Him who
raised the heavens and spread out the earth, it was I who killed the
damsel:--and he gave an account of the manner of his killing her, and
described what the Khaleefeh had found. The Khaleefeh therefore was
convinced that the young man was he who had killed the damsel; and he
was astonished, and said, What was the cause of thy killing this damsel
unjustly, and of thy confessing the murder without being
beaten,[IV_6] and thy saying, Retaliate her death upon me? The
young man answered as follows:--
[Illustration]
Know, O Prince of the Faithful, that this damsel was my wife, and the
daughter of my uncle: this sheykh was her father, and is my uncle. I
married her when she was a virgin, and God blessed me with three male
children by her; and she loved me and served me, and I saw in her no
evil. At the commencement of this month she was attacked by a severe
illness, and I brought to her the physicians, who attended her until her
health returned to her; and I desired them to send her to the bath; but
she said to me, I want something before I enter the bath, for I have a
longing for it.--What is it? said I. She answered, I have a longing for
an apple, to smell it, and take a bite from it. So I went out
immediately into the city, and searched for the apple, and would have
bought it had its price been a piece of gold: but I could not find one.
I passed the next night full of thought, and when the morning came I
quitted my house again and went about to all the gardens, one after
another; yet I found none in them. There met me, however, an old
gardener, of whom I inquired for the apple, and he said to me, O my son,
this is a rare thing, and not to be found here, nor anywhere except in
the garden of the Prince of the Faithful at El-Baṣrah, and preserved
there for the Khaleefeh. I returned therefore to my wife, and my love
for her so constrained me that I prepared myself and journeyed fifteen
days, by night and day, in going and returning, and brought her three
apples which I purchased of the gardener at El-Baṣrah for three pieces
of gold; and, going in, I handed them to her; but she was not pleased by
them, and left them by her side. She was then suffering from a violent
fever, and she continued ill during a period of ten days.
After this she recovered her health, and I went out and repaired to my
shop, and sat there to sell and buy; and while I was thus occupied, at
mid-day there passed by me a black slave, having in his hand an apple,
with which he was playing: so I said to him, Whence didst thou get this
apple, for I would procure one like it?--Upon which he laughed, and
answered, I got it from my sweetheart: I had been absent, and came, and
found her ill, and she had three apples; and she said to me, My
unsuspecting husband journeyed to El-Baṣrah for them, and bought them
for three pieces of gold:--and I took this apple from her.--When I heard
the words of the slave, O Prince of the Faithful, the world became black
before my face, and I shut up my shop, and returned to my house,
deprived of my reason by excessive rage. I found not the third apple,
and said to her, Where is the apple? She answered, I know not whither it
is gone. I was convinced thus that the slave had spoken the truth, and I
arose, and took a knife, and throwing myself upon her bosom, plunged the
knife into her: I then cut off her head and limbs, and put them in the
basket in haste, and covered them with the izár, over which I laid a
piece of carpet: then I put the basket in the chest, and, having locked
this, conveyed it on my mule, and threw it with my own hands into the
Tigris.[IV_8]
And now, continued the young man, I conjure thee by Allah, O Prince of
the Faithful, to hasten my death in retaliation for her murder, as I
dread, otherwise, her appeal for vengeance upon me on the day of
resurrection:[IV_9] for when I had thrown her into the Tigris
without the knowledge of any one, I returned to my house, and found my
eldest boy crying, though he knew not what I had done to his mother: so
I said to him, What maketh thee cry?--and he answered, I took one of
the apples that my mother had, and went down with it into the street to
play with my brothers, and a tall black slave snatched it from me, and
said to me, Whence came this to thee? I answered him, My father made a
journey for it, and brought it from El-Baṣrah, for the sake of my
mother; for she is sick: he bought three apples for three pieces of
gold:--but he took it from me and beat me, and went away with it; and I
am afraid that my mother may beat me on account of the apple.--When I
heard my son's story, I discovered that the slave had forged a lie
against the daughter of my uncle, and found that she had been killed
unjustly; and as I was weeping bitterly for what I had done, this
sheykh, my uncle and her father, came to me, and I informed him of the
event; and he seated himself by me, and wept. We wept until midnight,
and continued our mourning for her five days, ceasing not to the present
day to bewail her death. By the honour of thine ancestors, therefore,
hasten my death, to retaliate her murder upon me.
The Khaleefeh wondered at the young man's story, and said, By Allah, I
will not put to death any but the wicked slave; for the young man is
excusable. Then looking towards Jaạfar, he said to him, Bring before me
this wicked slave who hath been the cause of the catastrophe; or, if
thou bring him not, thou shalt be put to death in his stead. So the
Wezeer departed weeping, and saying, Whence shall I bring him? Not every
time that the jar is struck doth it escape being broken! I have no
stratagem to employ in this affair: but He who delivered me in the first
case may deliver me in the second. By Allah, I will not go out from my
house for three days; and the Truth, whose perfection be extolled, will
do what He willeth!--So he remained in his house three days, and on the
fourth day he caused the Ḳáḍee to be brought, and made his testamentary
arrangements; and as he was bidding farewell to his children, and
weeping, lo, the messenger of the Khaleefeh came and said to him, The
Prince of the Faithful is in a most violent rage, and hath sent me to
thee; and he hath sworn that this day shall not pass until thou art put
to death if thou do not bring to him the slave.
On hearing this, Jaạfar wept, and his children wept with him; and when
he had bidden them all farewell except his youngest daughter, he
approached her for the same purpose. He loved her more than all his
other children; and he pressed her to his bosom, and wept at the thought
of his separation from her; but, in doing this, he felt something round
in her pocket, and said to her, What is in thy pocket? She answered, O
my father, it is an apple; our slave Reyḥan[IV_10] brought it, and I
have had it four days; he would not give it me until he had received
from me two pieces of gold.--At this mention of the slave and the
apple, Jaạfar rejoiced, and exclaimed, O ready Dispeller of
trouble![IV_11]--and immediately he ordered that the slave should be
brought before him. He was therefore brought in, and he said to him,
Whence came this apple?--O my master, he answered, I went out five days
ago, and, entering one of the by-streets of the city, I saw some
children playing, and one of them had this apple: and I snatched it from
him, and beat him; and he cried, and said, That belongs to my mother,
and she is sick: she wanted my father to bring her an apple, and he made
a journey to El-Baṣrah, and brought back for her three apples which he
bought for three pieces of gold; and I took this to play with it:--then
he cried again; but, paying no regard to him, I took it away and brought
it hither; and my little mistress bought it of me for two pieces of
gold.--When he heard this story, Jaạfar was filled with wonder at
discovering that this distressing event, and the murder of the damsel,
had been occasioned by his slave; and he took the slave and went with
him to the Khaleefeh, who ordered that the story should be committed to
writing, and published.
[Illustration]
Jaạfar then said to him, Wonder not, O Prince of the Faithful, at his
tale, for it is not more extraordinary than the story of the Wezeer
Noor-ed-Deen, and Shems-ed-Deen, his brother.--What story, said the
Khaleefeh, can be more wonderful than this?--O Prince of the Faithful,
replied Jaạfar, I will not relate it to thee unless on the condition
that thou exempt my slave from the punishment of death. The Khaleefeh
said, I give thee his blood:--and Jaạfar, thereupon, commenced the
relation of the story as follows:--
THE STORY OF NOOR-ED-DEEN AND HIS SON, AND OF SHEMS-ED-DEEN AND HIS
DAUGHTER.
Know, O Prince of the Faithful, that there was, in Cairo,[IV_12] a
Sulṭán,[IV_13] just and beneficent, who had a wise and well-informed
Wezeer, possessing a knowledge of the affairs of the world, and of the
art of government. This minister was an aged man, and he had two sons,
like two moons: the name of the elder was Shems-ed-Deen, and that of the
younger, Noor-ed-Deen;[IV_14] and the latter was more distinguished than
the former by handsomeness and comeliness: there was no one in his day
more handsome, so that the fame of his charms spread through the
neighbouring regions, and some of the inhabitants of those parts
travelled to his country merely to obtain a sight of him. And it came to
pass that their father died, and the Sulṭán mourned for him, and,
turning his regards towards the two sons, took them into his favour,
invested them with robes of honour, and said to them, Ye two are
instated in your father's office:--at which they rejoiced, and kissed
the ground before him. They observed the ceremonies of mourning[IV_15]
for their father during a period of a whole month, and entered upon the
office of Wezeers, each of them discharging the duties of this station
for a week at a time; and whenever the Sulṭán had a desire to go forth
on a journey, he took one of them with him.
Now it happened, one night, that the Sulṭán purposed commencing a
journey on the following morning; and it was the turn of the elder
Wezeer to accompany him; and as the two brothers were conversing
together that night, the elder said, O my brother, it is my wish that we
should both marry on one night.--Do, O my brother, as thou desirest,
answered the younger; and I will comply with that which thou shalt say.
So they agreed to do this. The elder then said to his brother, If God so
decree that we obtain the betrothal of two maidens, and accomplish our
marriage on the same night, and they give birth to children on the same
day, and God will that thy wife have a son, and my wife have a daughter,
we will marry them to each other, for they will be cousins.--And what, O
my brother, said Noor-ed-Deen, wilt thou require of my son as the dowry
of thy daughter? He answered, I will require of thy son, as the dowry of
my daughter, three thousand pieces of gold, and three gardens, and three
farms; for if the young man make any other contract than this, it will
not be proper. But when Noor-ed-Deen heard this proposal, he exclaimed,
What is this dowry that thou imposest upon my son? Dost thou not know
that we are two brothers, and that we are both Wezeers, of one dignity?
It were incumbent on thee to offer thy daughter to my son as a free
gift, without any dowry; for thou knowest that the male is more
honourable than the female, and my child is a male, and by him shall our
memory be preserved: not by thy daughter.--What sayest thou of her?
asked his brother.--That our memory will not be preserved by her among
the nobles, answered Noor-ed-Deen. But thou desirest, added he, to act
with me according to the opinion of him who saith, If thou desire to
drive away a person who would buy, demand of him a high price.--I see
thee, replied Shems-ed-Deen, to have committed a fault, in making thy
son more honourable than my daughter: thou art doubtless deficient in
judgment, and destitute of good disposition, seeing that thou mentionest
the partnership in the office of Wezeer, when I admitted thee not to
share it with me excepting in my pity for thee, and that thou mightest
assist me: but talk as thou wilt: since thou hast said this, by Allah, I
will not marry my daughter to thy son, though thou offer me her weight
in gold.--On hearing these words of his brother, Noor-ed-Deen was
enraged, and said, I will not marry my son to thy daughter.--I will not
accept him as a husband for her, replied Shems-ed-Deen; and if I were
not purposing a journey, I would do to thee deeds that should serve as
warnings to others: however, when I return, God will do what He
willeth.--When Noor-ed-Deen heard this, he was full of anger, and became
unconscious of existence: but he concealed his feelings; and each of the
two brothers passed the night apart from the other; and in the morning
the Sulṭán set out on his journey, and, crossing over to the
island,[IV_16] proceeded towards the Pyramids, accompanied by the
Wezeer Shems-ed-Deen.
Noor-ed-Deen passed that night in a state of the utmost rage; and when
the morning came he arose, and, having performed the morning-prayers,
went to his closet and took out from it a pair of small saddle-bags,
which he filled with gold; and as he reflected upon the words of his
brother, and the contempt which he had shewn him, and the pride that he
had manifested towards him, he repeated these verses:--
Travel. Thou wilt find a friend in the place of him thou leavest;
and fatigue thyself; for by labour are the sweets of life
obtained.
To a man of intelligence and education there is no glory in a constant
residence: therefore quit thy native place, and go abroad.
I have observed that the stagnation of water corrupteth it;
if it floweth, it becometh sweet; but otherwise, it doth not.
If the full moon never set, the eye of the contemplative would not
on every occasion pay regard to it:
The lions, if they left not the forest, would capture no prey;
and the arrow, if it quitted not the bow, would not strike the mark:
The grains of gold upon their native bed are regarded as mere dust;
and the aloes-wood, where it groweth, is a kind of firewood:
If exported, it becometh an object of high demand; but if not,
it attaineth no kind of distinction.
He then ordered one of his young men to saddle for him a dapple mule,
tall, and of quick pace; and he did so, placing upon her a saddle
adorned with gold, with stirrups of Indian steel, and housings of the
velvet of Iṣpahán; and she resembled a bride displayed before her
husband. He ordered him also to place upon her a carpet of silk, and a
prayer-carpet,[IV_17] and to put the saddle-bags beneath the
latter; and when this was done, he said to the young man and the slaves,
I have a desire to take a ride for my amusement outside the city,
towards the province of Ḳalyoob, and shall be absent three nights; and
let none of you follow me, for my heart is contracted.
[Illustration]
Having thus said, he mounted his mule in haste, and, taking with him a
small supply of food, departed from the city, turning his face towards
the open country. The hour of noon overtook him not until he entered
the city of Bilbeys, where he alighted to repose himself and rest his
mule, and ate; after which he took from this place what he required for
himself, and some provender for his mule, and, having placed these
provisions upon her, went forth again into the plain, and before noon on
the second following day, he entered Jerusalem.[IV_18] Here he
alighted again, and rested himself and his beast, and ate: he then
placed his saddle-bags under his head, and spread his carpet, and slept,
still overcome by anger. He passed the night in this place; and in the
morning he remounted, and he continued to urge on his mule until he
arrived at Aleppo,[IV_19] where he alighted at a Ḳhán, and remained
three days to give rest to himself and his mule, and to enjoy the air of
the place: which having done, he determined to prosecute his journey,
and mounted his mule, and went forth. He knew not whither to direct his
course; but travelled on until he arrived at the city of El-Baṣrah; and
scarcely was he aware that the night had overtaken him, when he alighted
there at a Khán, where he took off the saddle-bags from the mule, and
spread the prayer-carpet, committing the mule, with her equipage, to the
care of the door-keeper, and ordering him to walk her about a little.
[Illustration]
The door-keeper did so; and it happened that the Wezeer of El-Baṣrah,
sitting at a window of his palace, saw the mule, and, observing her
costly equipage, thought that she must belong to some Wezeer or King;
and as he attentively regarded her he was surprised, and said to one of
his pages, Bring before me that door-keeper. So the page went and
brought him; and the door-keeper, approaching, kissed the ground before
him. The Wezeer, who was an aged person, then said to this man, Who is
the owner of this mule, and what is his appearance?--O my lord, answered
the door-keeper, her owner is a young man of elegant person, of the sons
of the merchants, and of a dignified and grave aspect. On hearing this,
the Wezeer arose, and, mounting his horse,[IV_20] went to the Khán,
and introduced himself to the young man, who, as soon as he saw him
approaching, rose to meet him, and embraced him. The Wezeer, after he
had alighted from his horse, saluted him and welcomed him, and, seating
him by his side, said to him, Whence, O my son, hast thou come; and for
what purpose?--O my lord, answered Noor-ed-Deen, I have come from the
city of Cairo: my father was Wezeer there; and he hath departed to
receive the mercy of God;--and he informed him of all that had happened
to him from first to last, adding, I have determined that I will not
return until I shall have seen all the cities and countries of the
world.--O my son, replied the Wezeer, obey not the suggestions of thy
mind, lest thou expose thyself to destruction; for the countries are
waste, and I fear on thy account the issues of fortune. So saying, he
ordered that the saddle-bags should be placed again on the mule,
together with the carpet of silk and the prayer-carpet, and took
Noor-ed-Deen with him to his house, where he lodged him in an elegant
apartment, and treated him with honour and kindness; and, conceiving a
strong affection for him, said to him, O my son, I have become an old
man, and I have no male child; God, however, hath blessed me with a
daughter who resembleth thee in comeliness, and I have rejected many
persons who have been her suitors: but now, love for thee hath entered
my heart; wilt thou then take my daughter as thy hand-maid to serve
thee, and be her husband? If thou consent to this, I will go up to the
Sulṭán of El-Baṣrah, and will say to him, This is the son of my
brother;--and I will introduce thee to him, that I may make thee Wezeer
in my place, and I will remain in my house; for I am now
aged.--Noor-ed-Deen, on hearing this proposal of the Wezeer of
El-Baṣrah, hung down his head, and then answered, I hear and obey.
[Illustration]
The Wezeer rejoiced at his assent, and ordered his servants to prepare
for him a repast, and to decorate the great saloon[IV_21] which was
furnished for the reception of the chiefs of the Emeers. He then called
together his friends, and invited the great officers of the state, and
the merchants of El-Baṣrah; and when they had come into his presence, he
said to them, I had a brother who was Wezeer in the land of Egypt, and
God blessed him with two sons; and me, as ye know, He hath blessed with
a daughter: now my brother enjoined me to marry my daughter to one of
his sons, and I consented to do so; and when she attained a fit age for
marriage, he sent to me one of his sons, who is this young man here
present. As soon, therefore, as he had come, I desired to perform the
marriage-contract between him and my daughter, and that he should
introduce himself to her here in my house.--Excellently hast thou done!
they replied. They then drank sherbet of sugar, and the pages sprinkled
rose-water upon them, and they departed: after which, the Wezeer ordered
his servants to conduct Noor-en-Deen to the bath, and gave him a suit of
his best clothes,[IV_22] and sent to him the napkins and cups and
perfuming-vessels, and everything else that he required. So when he came
out from the bath, he put on the suit of clothes, and appeared like the
full moon; and he mounted his mule, and, returning to the palace,
alighted and presented himself before the Wezeer, and kissed his hand:
and the Wezeer welcomed him, saying, Arise, and introduce thyself this
night to thy wife; and to-morrow I will go up with thee to the Sulṭán,
and I pray that God may bless thee with every kind of happiness.
Noor-ed-Deen therefore arose, and went to his wife, the daughter of the
Wezeer.--Thus did it happen to Noor-ed-Deen.
As to his brother, he continued a while journeying with the Sulṭán, and
when he returned, and found not his brother, he inquired of the servants
respecting him, and they answered, On the day of thy departure with the
Sulṭán, he mounted his mule, caparisoned as for a procession of state,
and said, I am going towards the province of Ḳalyoob, and shall be
absent a day or two days; for my heart is contracted; therefore let none
of you follow me:--and from the day on which he went forth, to the
present day, we have heard no tidings of him. Upon this the heart of
Shems-ed-Deen was troubled at the separation of his brother, and he
grieved excessively for his loss, saying within himself, The cause of
this is nothing else than my having spoken harshly to him in my
conversation on the night before my departure with the Sulṭán; and
probably his mind was disturbed, and he went on a journey: I must
therefore send after him. He then went up and related this event to the
Sulṭán, who wrote letters and sent them to his vicegerents in all the
provinces: but Noor-ed-Deen had traversed distant regions during the
absence of his brother with the Sulṭán: therefore the messengers, when
they had gone with the letters, returned without having obtained any
information respecting him. So Shems-ed-Deen despaired of his brother,
and said, I have enraged my brother by what I said to him concerning the
marriage of the children. Would that I had not done so! This was not
occasioned but by my want of sense and judgment!--And soon after this,
he demanded in marriage the daughter of one of the merchants of Cairo,
and performed the marriage-contract between himself and her, and
introduced himself to her: and it happened that the night when this
event took place was the same night on which Noor-ed-Deen introduced
himself to his wife, the daughter of the Wezeer of El-Baṣrah: this being
in accordance with the will of God, whose name be exalted, that He might
execute his decree upon his creatures.
The event was as they both had said: for it came to pass that the two
wives conceived by them: the wife of Shems-ed-Deen, the Wezeer, of
Egypt, gave birth to a daughter, than whom there was not seen, in that
country, one more beautiful; and the wife of Noor-ed-Deen gave birth to
a son, one more beautiful than whom was not seen in his time: as the
poet hath said:--
If beauty came to be compared with him, it would hang down its head
in shame;
Or if it were said, O beauty, hast thou seen the like?--it would
answer, The equal of this I have not.
So they named him Ḥasan;[IV_23] and on the seventh day after his
birth, they made entertainments and spread repasts such as were fit for
the sons of Kings[IV_24] after which the Wezeer of El-Baṣrah took
with him Noor-ed-Deen, and went up with him to the Sulṭán; and when he
came into his presence he kissed the ground before him; and
Noor-ed-Deen, being eloquent in tongue, and firm of heart, and comely in
person and in actions, recited these words of the poet:--
This is he whose justice extendeth to all men, and who hath overrun
and subdued every region.
Be thankful for his benefits; for they are not mere benefits;
but they are strings of jewels on the necks of his people;
And kiss his fingers; for they are not mere fingers;
but they are the keys of the supplies of Providence.
The Sulṭán treated them both with honour, and, having thanked
Noor-ed-Deen for his address, said to his Wezeer, Who is this young man?
The Wezeer therefore related to him his story from beginning to end, and
added, This is the son of my brother.--How is it, said the Sulṭán, that
he is the son of thy brother, and we have not before heard of him? The
Wezeer answered, O our lord the Sulṭán, I had a brother who was Wezeer
in the land of Egypt, and he died, leaving two sons: the elder succeeded
to his father's office, as Wezeer, and this his younger son came to me;
and I swore that I would not marry my daughter to any but him: so, when
he came, I married him to her. He is a young man, and I am now aged; my
hearing is impaired, and my judgment faileth: it is my wish, therefore,
that our lord the Sulṭán would instate him in my office, seeing that he
is the son of my brother and the husband of my daughter, and a person
worthy of the dignity of Wezeer; for he is endowed with knowledge and
judgment.--The Sulṭán, upon this, looked towards him, and, being pleased
with him, approved of the advice of the Wezeer that he should promote
him to that office; so he bestowed it upon him, and ordered that a
magnificent dress of honour should be given to him, and one of the best
of the mules upon which he was himself accustomed to ride, allotting him
also supplies and salaries; and Noor-ed-Deen kissed the hand of the
Sulṭán, and descended with his father-in-law to their house, both in
high delight, and saying, Verily the birth of this child is fortunate.
On the following day Noor-ed-Deen went again to the King, and kissed the
ground, and the Sulṭán ordered him to sit in the place of the Wezeer:
so he sat, and occupied himself with the affairs of his office, and
examined the cases of the people, and their suits, according to the
custom of Wezeers: and the Sulṭán, observing him, was surprised at his
conduct, and the acuteness of his understanding, and his good judgment.
He attentively considered his qualities, and loved him, and advanced him
in his favour: and when the court was dissolved, Noor-ed-Deen returned
to his house, and related what had passed to his father-in-law, who was
rejoiced at hearing it.
[Illustration]
The old Wezeer ceased not to superintend the rearing of the child, who
was named Ḥasan, for many days, while Noor-ed-Deen was constantly
occupied with the affairs of his office, so that he left not the Sulṭán
by day nor by night; and the King increased his salaries and supplies
until his circumstances became ample: he had ships which made voyages
under his orders with merchandise and other things, and he founded
numerous estates, and made water-wheels[IV_25] and gardens. Thus
did he until his son Ḥasan was four years of age, when the old Wezeer,
the father of his wife, died; and he conveyed his corpse with great
pomp, and decently deposited it in the earth. He then turned his
thoughts towards the education of his son; and when the child had gained
strength, he brought him a tutor to teach him in his own house, charging
him to instruct him and educate him well; and the tutor did so, and
taught him various useful sciences, after he had passed some years in
learning the Ḳur-án. Ḥasan meanwhile increased in loveliness and beauty,
and elegance of person. The tutor continued to educate him in his
father's palace; and from the time that he arrived at adolescence he
went not out of the Wezeer's palace, until his father took him one day,
and, having clad him in one of the richest of his dresses, mounted him
on one of his best mules, and conducted him to the Sulṭán, and
introduced him. When the King beheld Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen,[IV_26] the
son of the Wezeer Noor-ed-Deen, he was astonished at his beauty; and the
people, when he passed by them for the first time, going up with his
father to the King, were amazed at his surpassing beauty and loveliness,
and elegance of person. The Sulṭán, as soon as he saw him, loved him,
and bestowed marks of favour upon him, and said to his father, O Wezeer,
thou must bring him with thee every day. The Wezeer answered, I hear and
obey;--and returned with his son to his abode; and he continued every
day to go up with him to the Sulṭán until the youth attained the age of
fifteen years.
His father, the Wezeer Noor-ed-Deen, then fell sick, and called him into
his presence, and said to him, O my son, know that this world is a
perishable abode, and the world to come is an everlasting abode. I wish
to give thee some precepts, and do thou understand what I am about to
say to thee, and incline thy heart to it.--And he began to counsel him
respecting the proper mode of conducting himself in society, and the due
management of his affairs; and when he had done so, he reflected upon
his brother and his native place and country, and wept at the thought of
his separation from those he loved; his tears flowing: and he said, O my
son, hear my words. I have a brother[IV_27] in Cairo, and I quitted
him and departed against his will.--He then took a piece of
paper,[IV_28] and wrote upon it all that had happened to him from
first to last, together with the date of his marriage and introduction
to the daughter of the Wezeer, and the date of his arrival at El-Baṣrah
and his interview with its Wezeer; and, having added some strict
admonition, he said to his son, Keep this charge, for the paper on which
it is written containeth an account of thine origin and thy rank and
lineage; and if any evil accident befall thee, repair to Cairo, and
inquire for thine uncle, and salute him, and inform him that I died in a
strange land, ardently desiring that I could see him. Therefore Ḥasan
Bedr-ed-Deen took the paper, and, having folded it, and wrapped it in a
piece of waxed cloth,[IV_29] sewed it between the lining and the
outer cloth of his cap,[IV_30] and wept for his father, that he
should be parted from him in his youth.
Noor-ed-Deen then said to his son,[IV_31] I charge thee that thou
be not familiar with any one; for in retirement is security. Divinely
gifted was the poet who said,--
There is none in thy time whose friendship thou shouldst covet;
nor any intimate who, when fortune is treacherous, will be
faithful.
Live then apart, and rely upon no man: I have given thee,
in these words, good advice, and sufficient.
Accustom thyself to taciturnity: occupy thyself with thine own affairs,
and use not many words: for the poet saith,--
Taciturnity is an ornament, and in silence is security: therefore,
when thou speakest, be not loquacious:
For if thou repent once of thy silence, thou wilt assuredly repent
many times of thy speech.
Beware of drinking wine; for it is the source of every kind of mischief.
The poet[IV_32] saith on this subject,--
I have abandoned wine and those who drink it; and have become
the friend of such as condemn it.
Wine leadeth astray from the path of rectitude, and openeth
the doors to evil.
Hate no man, and oppress none; for oppression is base. The poet saith,--
Oppress not if thou hast the power to do so; for oppression will
eventually bring thee repentance:
Thine eye will sleep while the oppressed, wakeful, will call for
vengeance upon thee; and the eye of God sleepeth not.
Despise thy wealth, but not thyself: yet bestow not wealth save upon him
who deserveth it. If thou keep it, it will keep thee; but if thou
squander it, it will ruin thee; and then wilt thou need the assistance
of the least of mankind. It hath been said by the poet,--
When my wealth faileth, no friend assisteth me; but when it aboundeth,
all men are my friends.
How many enemies for the sake of wealth have consorted with me!
And my companion, in the time of want, hath abandoned me!
In this manner he continued to admonish his son Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen until
his spirit departed. The house became a scene of mourning, and the
Sulṭán and all the Emeers grieved for him; and they buried him. They
continued their mourning during a period of two months, and the son of
Noor-ed-Deen rode not out nor went to the court nor presented himself
before the Sulṭán; and the King instated one of the Chamberlains in his
place, and appointed a new Wezeer in the place of his father, and
ordered this Wezeer to put seals upon all the houses of Noor-ed-Deen,
and upon his wealth and all his buildings and other possessions.[IV_33]
So the new Wezeer went with the Chamberlains to the house of the Wezeer
Noor-ed-Deen, to seal its door and to arrest his son Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen,
and bring him before the Sulṭán, that he might do to him what his
judgment required. But there was among the troops one of the memlooks of
the deceased Wezeer Noor-ed-Deen; and he could not endure that the son
of his master should be thus treated: he therefore repaired to Ḥasan
Bedr-ed-Deen, whom he found with downcast head and mourning heart, on
account of the death of his father, and acquainted him with what had
passed. Ḥasan asked him, Will the execution of the order be delayed long
enough for me to enter my house,[IV_34] and take somewhat of my worldly
possessions by which to obtain support during my exile? But the memlook
answered, Save thyself:--and when Ḥasan heard these words, he covered
his head with the skirt of his robe, and, going forth on foot, fled of
the city: and he heard the people saying, The Sulṭán hath sent the new
Wezeer to the house of the deceased Wezeer, to seal his wealth and other
possessions, and to arrest his son Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen, and bring him
before him that he may put him to death:--and the people were mourning
for him on account of his beauty and loveliness. So when he heard what
they said, he took a course that he had not intended, and, not knowing
whither to go, walked on until destiny urged him to the tomb of his
father.
[Illustration]
Entering the burial-ground, he bent his way among the tombs until he
seated himself at that of his father, where he removed his skirt from
over his head. And as he was sitting there, a Jew of El-Baṣrah
approached, and said to him, Wherefore, O my master, do I see thee thus
changed? He answered, I was just now sleeping, and I beheld my father
reproaching me for having failed to visit his tomb: wherefore I rose in
alarm, fearing that the day would pass without my visiting it, and so
the occurrence would distress me. The Jew then said to him, O my master,
thy father despatched some vessels with merchandise, and some of them
have returned; and it is my wish to purchase of thee the cargo of every
vessel that hath arrived for a thousand pieces of gold;--and so saying,
he took out a purse filled with gold, and counted out from it a thousand
pieces, which he paid to Ḥasan the son of the Wezeer, and said to him,
Write me a paper, and seal it. So Ḥasan took a paper, and wrote upon it,
The writer of this paper, Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen, the son of the Wezeer
Noor-ed-Deen, hath sold to the Jew such a one the whole cargo of every
one of his father's vessels that hath returned from her voyage, for a
thousand pieces of gold, and hath received the price in advance. And
after he had taken a copy[IV_35] of it, the Jew went away with the
paper; and Ḥasan wept, reflecting upon his former state of dignity and
favour. At length the night closed in upon him, and sleep overtook him,
and he remained asleep at his father's tomb until the moon rose when his
head rolled from the tomb, and he lay and slept on his back, his face
shining in the moonlight.
[Illustration]
Now the burial-ground was inhabited by believing Jinn; and a Jinneeyeh,
coming forth, saw the face of Ḥasan as he lay asleep, and when she
beheld him, was surprised at his beauty and loveliness, and exclaimed,
Extolled be Allah's perfection! This youth is like none but the virgins
of paradise!--She then soared into the air, to perform her accustomed
circuits, and saw an 'Efreet on his flight. She saluted him, and he
returned her salutation; and she said to him, Whence comest thou? He
answered from Cairo:--and she said to him, Wilt thou go with me to
behold the beauty of the youth who is sleeping in the burial-ground? He
replied, Yes. So they went together; and when they had descended into
the burial-ground, she said to him, Hast thou seen in the course of thy
life a person like this?--And the 'Efreet looked upon him, and
exclaimed, Extolled be the perfection of Him unto whom none is to be
compared! But, O my sister, he added, if thou desire, I will relate to
thee what I have seen.--Tell me, she replied: so he said, I have seen a
person resembling this youth in the land of Egypt; and that person is
the daughter of the Wezeer. The King had heard of her, and demanded her
of her father, the Wezeer Shems-ed-Deen, in marriage; but he answered
him, O our lord the Sulṭán, accept my excuse, and pity my grief; for
thou knowest that my brother Noor-ed-Deen departed from us, and we know
not where he is; and that he shared with me the office of Wezeer; and
the cause of his departure was this, that I was sitting conversing with
him on the subject of marriage, and he was angry with me, and in anger
went away:--and he related to the King all that had passed between them;
adding, This was the cause of his indignation, and I have been under an
oath that I will not marry my daughter to any but the son of my brother
from the day that her mother gave birth to her; and that was about
fifteen years ago: and lately I heard that my brother had married the
daughter of the Wezeer of El-Baṣrah, and obtained a son by her; and I
will not marry my daughter to any but him, in honour of my brother.
After I had heard this, I recorded the date of my marriage, and of my
wife's conception, and of the birth of this daughter: she is intended
for the son of her uncle; and of other maidens there are plenty.--But
when the Sulṭán heard these words of the Wezeer, he was violently
enraged, and said, How is it that such a one as myself demandeth in
marriage a daughter from one like thee, and thou withholdest her from
him, and excusest thyself by an absurd pretext? By my head, I will not
marry her but to one of less consideration than myself, in scorn of thy
pride!--And the King had a humpbacked groom, with a hump before and a
hump behind; and he ordered him to be brought, and affianced him to the
daughter of the Wezeer, commanding that he should introduce himself to
her this night, and be conducted in pompous procession. I left him in
the midst of the memlooks of the Sulṭán, who were surrounding him with
lighted candles in their hands, laughing at him and mocking him, at the
door of the bath, while the daughter of the Wezeer was sitting weeping
in the midst of the dye-women[IV_36] and tire-women.[IV_37]
She resembles more than any other person this youth. They have
prohibited her father from going to her; and I have never seen, O my
sister, a more ugly wretch than this humpback: but as to the maiden, she
is more beautiful than this youth.
To this story of the 'Efreet, the Jinneeyeh answered, Thou liest; for
this youth is the most beautiful of the people of his age. But the
'Efreet replied, By Allah, O my sister, the maiden is more beautiful
than he: however, none but he is suited to her; for they resemble each
other, and probably are brother and sister, or cousins; and how will she
be thrown away upon this humpback! She therefore said to him, O my
brother, let us place ourselves beneath him and lift him up and take him
to the maiden of whom thou speakest, and see which of the two is more
beautiful. The 'Efreet answered, I hear and obey: this proposal is
right, and there can be no better determination than this which thou
hast chosen; therefore I will carry him. So he lifted him up, and soared
into the sky, and the Jinneeyeh flew by his side until he descended with
him in the city of Cairo, where he placed him upon a maṣṭabah,[IV_38]
and roused him from his sleep.[IV_39]
When, therefore, he awoke, and found that he was not at his father's
tomb in the land of El-Baṣrah, he looked to the right and left, and
perceived that he was in a city that was not El-Baṣrah, and would have
cried out, but the 'Efreet winked to him, and, lighting for him a
candle, said to him, Know that I have brought thee hither, and I desire
to do thee a service for the sake of God: take, therefore, this candle,
and go with it to yonder bath, and mix with the people there, and
proceed with them until thou arrivest at the saloon of the bride; then
go before, and enter the saloon, and fear no one; and when thou hast
entered, station thyself on the right of the humpbacked bridegroom; and
whenever the tire-women and singing-women and dye-women come to thee,
put thy hand into thy pocket: thou wilt find it full of gold, and do
thou take it by the handful and throw it to them; and imagine not that
thou wilt put thy hand in and not find it filled with gold: give
therefore to every one who cometh to thee by the handful, and fear
nothing; but rely upon Him who created thee; for this will not be
through thine own strength or power, but through the strength of God,
and his power.
[Illustration]
On hearing these words of the 'Efreet, Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen said, What is
this event, and what manner of kindness is this? And he went with his
candle to the bath, where he found the humpback mounted on his horse;
and he joined himself to the party, in the same garb in which he had
arrived, and with the same comely appearance; being attired with a
ṭarboosh[IV_40] and turban, and a farajeeyeh[IV_41] interwoven
with gold. He proceeded with the pompous train, and every time that the
singing-women stopped for the people to give them money, he put his hand
into his pocket, and found it filled with gold, and took it by the
handful and threw it into the tambourine,[IV_42] for the
singing-women and tire-women, filling the tambourine with pieces of
gold: and the singing-women were amazed, and the people wondered at his
beauty and loveliness. Thus he continued to do until they arrived at the
house of the Wezeer, when the chamberlains drove back the people, and
prevented their entrance; but the singing-women and tire-women said, By
Allah, we will not enter unless this youth enter with us, for he hath
overwhelmed us with his favours, and the bride shall not be displayed
unless he be present:--and upon this they entered with him into the
saloon of the festivity, and seated him, in spite of the humpbacked
bridegroom. All the ladies of the Emeers and Wezeers and Chamberlains
were ranged in two rows, each lady holding a large lighted candle, and
having her head-veil drawn across the lower part of her face: thus they
stood in two rows, to the right and the left, from the foot of the couch
of the bride to the upper end of the leewán that adjoined the chamber
from which the bride was to come forth. And when the ladies beheld Ḥasan
Bedr-ed-Deen and his beauty and loveliness, his face shining like the
crescent of the moon, the hearts of all of them inclined to him, and the
female singers said to all the women who were present, Know that this
charming youth hath given us nothing but red gold; therefore fail not to
serve him properly, and obey him in whatever he shall say. The women
crowded round him to gaze at his charms, and their minds were
overpowered by astonishment at his beauty, and each of them wished that
she might be in his bosom for a year or a month or an hour: they removed
the veils from their faces, and their hearts were perplexed, and they
said, Joy to the person to whom this youth belongeth, or to the person
over whom he is lord! Then they imprecated evil upon the humpbacked
groom and him who was the cause of his marriage to that lovely maiden;
and every time that they prayed for blessings upon Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen,
they imprecated misfortunes upon the humpback.
The singing-women then beat the tambourines, and the tire-women
approached with the daughter of the Wezeer in the midst of them. They
had perfumed her with sweet scents and essences, and clad her, and
adorned her hair and neck with various ornaments, decking her with
garments such as were worn by the ancient monarchs of Persia. Among
these was a loose gown embroidered with red gold, presenting the forms
of wild beasts and birds, hanging down over her other clothes; and round
her neck was a necklace worth thousands, composed of jewels such as
neither a King of El-Yemen nor a Cæsar ever collected: she was like the
moon shining in its fourteenth night, and when she approached she
resembled a Ḥooreeyeh.[IV_43] Extolled be the perfection of him who
created her so splendid a being! The women encompassed her, and appeared
like stars; she, in the midst of them, being as the moon when the clouds
have withdrawn from before it. Meanwhile, Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen remained
sitting, with the company gazing at him; and as the bride approached
with a dignified and graceful gait, the humpbacked groom rose to her, to
kiss her; but she turned aside from him, and went and stood before
Ḥasan, the son of her uncle. The company laughed at this; and when they
beheld her turn towards Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen, and saw him put his hand
into his pocket and take out handfuls of gold and throw it into the
tambourine of the singing-women, they were delighted, and said, We wish
that this bride were thine:--and he smiled. All this time the humpbacked
groom was alone, looking like an ape; and every time that they lighted
his candle it went out again, and he was confounded, and remained
sitting in the dark, full of secret indignation, with all the company
surrounding him, while the lighted candles presented an appearance of
beauty that was most admirable, so that every person of reflection was
amazed at their splendour. But as to the bride, she raised her hands
towards heaven, and said, O Allah, make this to be my husband, and
relieve me from this humpbacked groom!--The tire-women then proceeded to
display the bride in different dresses, to the seventh suit, before
Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen of El-Baṣrah, the humpbacked groom remaining alone;
and when they had finished this ceremony they gave permission to the
company to depart: so all who were present at the festivity, both women
and children, went out, except Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen and the humpbacked
groom; after which the tire-women conducted the bride to an inner
chamber, to take off her ornaments and outer robes, and to prepare her
for the bridegroom's visit.
Upon this, the humpbacked groom approached Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen, and said
to him, O my master, thou hast made us happy by thy company this night,
and overwhelmed us with thy favours; but now wherefore dost thou not
rise and go to thy house without thy being ejected? He answered, In the
name of Allah;--and rose, and went out from the door: but the 'Efreet
met him, and said unto him, Stay, O Bedr-ed-Deen; and when the humpback
retires into the private closet, enter thou and seat thyself in the
bride-chamber; and when the bride cometh, say to her, I am thy husband;
and the King had not recourse to this stratagem from any other motive
than his fearing for thee the effect of the eye;[IV_44] and this
whom thou hast seen is one of our grooms:--then approach her, and
uncover her face, and fear no evil from any one.
[Illustration]
While Bedr-ed-Deen was thus conversing with the 'Efreet, lo, the groom
entered the closet, and seated himself; and immediately the 'Efreet rose
before him, from the trough of water that was in the closet,[IV_45]
in the form of a mouse, and cried Zeek!--What brought thee here? said
the humpback. The mouse then increased in size, and became like a cat;
and then increased, and became a dog, and cried, 'Owh! 'Owh! At the
sight of this the groom was terrified, and exclaimed, Get away, thou
unlucky![IV_46] The dog, however, still increased and swelled until
it became an ass, and brayed in his face, crying, Háḳ! Háḳ!--upon which
the groom, in terror, cried out, Come to my aid, O people of the house!
But lo, the ass increased, and became like a buffalo, and, stopping up
the place before him, spoke with the speech of a son of Adam, and said,
Wo be to thee, O humpback! O filthiest of grooms! Upon this the groom
was seized with a colick, and seated himself upon the slabs, and his
teeth knocked together. The 'Efreet then said to him, Hath the earth
become narrow to thee, that thou wouldst marry none but my mistress? But
the groom was silent. Return me an answer, said the 'Efreet, or I will
make thine abode to be in the dust!--By Allah, then answered the groom,
I am not in fault; for they compelled me, and I knew not that she had a
lover among the buffaloes; but now I repent before Allah and before
thee. Then the 'Efreet said, I swear by Allah that if thou depart now
from this place, or utter a word before the sun hath risen, I will slay
thee: and when the sun hath risen go thy way, and never return to this
house. And he seized the humpbacked groom, and, placing his head upside
down upon the slabs, and his feet upwards, said to him, Remain here, and
I will watch thee until sunrise.--Thus did it happen to the humpback.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Now, as to Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen of El-Baṣrah, he left the humpback and the
'Efreet contending together, and, entering the house, seated himself in
the bride-chamber; and lo, the bride approached, accompanied by an old
woman, who stopped at the door of the chamber, and said, O
Aboo-Shiháb,[IV_47] rise, and take thy bride; and I commend thee to
the care of Allah. Then the old woman went away, and the bride, whose
name was Sitt-el-Ḥosn,[IV_48] advanced to the upper end of the
chamber. Her heart was broken, and she said within herself, By Allah, I
will not suffer him to caress me though my spirit depart from me! But
when she had proceeded to the upper end of the chamber, she beheld
Bedr-ed-Deen, and said, My beloved, until this hour art thou remaining?
I had said within myself, perhaps thou and the humpbacked groom are to
share me between you.--What, said he, should give the groom access to
thee, and wherefore should he be my partner in the possession of
thee?--Who, then, she asked, is my husband? Thou or he?--O my mistress,
answered Bedr-ed-Deen, we did not this for any other purpose than to
make a jest of him, and that we might laugh at him; for when the
tire-women and the singing-women and thy family beheld thine admirable
beauty, they feared for us the effect of the eye, and thy father hired
him for ten pieces of gold, in order that he might divert from us the
eye; and now he hath departed. When Sitt-el-Ḥosn heard these words of
Bedr-ed-Deen, she smiled, and uttered a gentle laugh, and said, By
Allah, thou hast extinguished my fire! Take me then, I conjure thee, and
press me to thy bosom.--And they embraced each other.
Not long after this, the 'Efreet said to the Jinneeyeh, Arise, and place
thyself beneath the youth, and let us convey him back, lest the morning
overtake us; for the time is near. So she advanced towards him, and,
placing herself beneath his skirt, as he lay asleep, took him up, and
flew away with him, in the state in which she found him, clad only in
his shirt, and pursued her flight with the 'Efreet by her side. But God
gave permission to some angels to cast at the 'Efreet a shooting-star of
fire, and he was burnt. The Jinneeyeh, however, escaped unhurt, and
deposited Bedr-ed-Deen in the place over which the shooting-star had
burnt the 'Efreet. She would not pass beyond it, fearing for his safety;
and as destiny had appointed, this place was Damascus: so she placed him
by one of the gates of this city, and flew away.
[Illustration]
When daylight therefore came, and the gates were opened, the people,
coming forth, beheld a beautiful youth clad in his shirt, and with a
cotton skull-cap without a turban. In consequence of his having been so
long wakeful, he was now immersed in sleep; and when the people saw him,
some said, Would that he had waited till he had put on his
clothes!--another said, Objects of pity are the children of men of
condition! Probably this youth hath just come forth from his
drinking-place, on account of some business, and intoxication hath
overcome him, and he hath wandered from the place to which he would go
until he arrived at the gate of the city, and, finding it locked, hath
slept here.--They had expressed various opinions respecting him, and
were wondering at his case, when Bedr-ed-Deen awoke. Perceiving that he
was at the gate of a city, and surrounded by men, he was astonished, and
said, Where am I, O good people; and what is the cause of your
assembling around me, and what hath befallen me among you? They
answered, We saw thee at the call to morning-prayer lying at this gate
asleep; and we know nothing more of thy case. Where wast thou sleeping
this last night?--By Allah, O people, he replied, I was sleeping this
last night in Cairo.--On hearing this, one of them said, Dost thou eat
ḥasheesh?[IV_49] Another said, Thou art mad. How couldst thou be
passing the night in Cairo, and be sleeping in the morning at the city
of Damascus?--He said to them, By Allah, O good people, I will tell you
no falsehood: I was last night in the land of Egypt, and the day before
I was at El-Baṣrah. One of them said, This is a wonderful thing! Another
said, This youth is mad. And they clapped their hands at him, and,
conversing together, said, Alas, for his youth! By Allah, there is no
denying his madness!--They then said to him, Return to thy reason. But
he replied, I was yesterday a bridegroom in the land of Egypt.--Probably
thou hast dreamt, said they, and hast seen this of which thou speakest
in thy sleep. And Ḥasan was confounded, and said, By Allah, this was not
a dream: and where is the humpbacked groom who was sitting with us, and
the purse of gold that I had? And where are my clothes and my
drawers?--He then rose, and entered the city, and proceeded through its
great thoroughfare-streets and market-streets; and the people crowded
round him and paraded him: so he entered the shop of a cook. Now this
cook was a robber,[IV_50] whom God had caused to repent of his
unlawful actions, and he had opened a cook's shop; and all the people of
Damascus feared him on account of his boldness; therefore, when they saw
that the youth had entered this shop, they left him, being afraid.
When the cook beheld Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen, and observed his beauty and
comeliness, love for him entered his heart, and he said to him, Whence
art thou, O young man? Relate to me thy story; for thou art become
dearer to me than my soul.--So he related to him all that had happened,
from beginning to end: and the cook said to him, O my master
Bedr-ed-Deen, know that this is a wonderful event and an extraordinary
story; but, O my son, conceal thy case until God dispel thy trouble, and
remain with me in this place; and as I have not a son, I will adopt thee
as such. Bedr-ed-Deen replied, Let it be as thou desirest, O uncle. And
immediately the cook went out to the mart, and bought for Bedr-ed-Deen
costly clothes, and put them on him: he then went to the Ḳáḍee, and made
a declaration that he was his adopted son:[IV_51] so Ḥasan
Bedr-ed-Deen became known throughout the city of Damascus as the son of
the cook; and he sat with him in the shop to receive the money, and in
this situation he remained.
Now as to Sitt-el-Ḥosn, when daybreak came and she awoke, she found not
Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen remaining with her, and, imagining that he would soon
return, she sat a while expecting him; and lo, her father came in to
her, troubled at that which had befallen him from the Sulṭán, and at his
having married his daughter by force to one of his servants, the
humpbacked groom; and he said within himself, I will kill this girl if
she have suffered the wretch to caress her. So he advanced to the
bride-chamber, and, stopping at the door, said, O Sitt-el-Ḥosn! She
answered, Well, O my master!--and came forth to him, walking with a
vacillating gait, through joy, and kissed the ground before him; and her
countenance beamed with increased splendour in consequence of her union
with that gazelle. When her father, therefore, saw her in this state, he
exclaimed to her, O thou base creature! art thou delighted with this
groom? On hearing these words of her father, Sitt-el-Ḥosn smiled, and
replied, By Allah, it is enough that thou hast done, and that the people
laugh at me, and put me on an equality with this groom, who is not, in
my estimation, of the value of a paring of one of my finger-nails; but
as to my husband--by Allah, I never in the course of my life passed a
night more delightful than that which I have just passed in his company:
therefore jest not with me by mentioning that humpback.--When her father
heard what she said he was filled with rage; his eyes glared so that
little appeared of them but the white, and he said to her, Wo to thee!
What are these words that thou sayest? Verily the humpbacked groom hath
passed the night with thee!--I conjure thee by Allah, she rejoined, that
thou mention him not. May Allah reject him, and reject his father!
Continue not then to mock me by mentioning him; for the groom was only
hired for ten pieces of gold, and he took his hire and departed; and I
came and entered the bride-chamber, and beheld my husband seated, after
the singing-women had displayed me before him; and he threw them red
gold until he had enriched the poor who were present. I have reclined
upon the bosom of my gentle-hearted husband, with the black eyes and the
joined eyebrows.--When her father heard this, the light became darkness
before his face, and he exclaimed to her, O thou abandoned one! What is
this that thou sayest? Where is thy reason?--O my father, she replied,
thou hast broken my heart in pieces! Wherefore dost thou pay no
attention? This of whom I spake is my husband, and he hath retired to
his private closet.
So her father went thither, in a state of astonishment, and, entering
the closet, found the humpbacked groom with his head upon the slabs and
his feet turned upwards; and the Wezeer was confounded at the sight, and
said, Is not this the humpback?--and he spoke to him; but the humpback
returned no answer, thinking that it was the 'Efreet who addressed him.
The Wezeer, therefore, cried out at him with a loud voice, and said to
him, Speak, or I will cut off thy head with this sword! Upon which the
humpback exclaimed, By Allah, O sheykh of the 'Efreets, from the time
that thou placedst me here I have not raised my head: I conjure thee
therefore that thou shew favour to me!--The Wezeer, on hearing the
humpback thus address him, said to him, What sayest thou? I am the
father of the bride, and I am not an 'Efreet.--Then said the humpback,
My life is not in thy hand, nor art thou able to take my soul; so go thy
way before he come to thee who hath treated me in this manner. Ye would
not marry me to any but the mistress of buffaloes and the mistress of
'Efreets! May Allah, then, confound him who married me to her, and
confound him who was the cause of it!--Then did the humpbacked groom
address the Wezeer, the father of the bride, again, saying, Allah
confound him who was the cause of this!--Rise, said the Wezeer, and
depart from this place.--Am I mad, he replied, that I should go with
thee without the permission of the 'Efreet? For he said to me, When the
sun shall have risen go thy way.--Hath the sun then risen or not? For I
cannot depart from my place until the sun hath risen.--Upon this the
Wezeer said to him, Who brought thee to this place? He answered, I came
hither yesterday, and a dust rose from the midst of the water, and cried
out, and increased in bulk until it became of the size of a buffalo, and
said to me words that entered my ear. Leave me, therefore, and go. Allah
confound the bride and him who married me to her!--The Wezeer then
approached him, and dragged him forth, and he went out running, doubting
whether the sun had risen, and went up to the Sulṭán, and informed him
of that which had happened to him with the 'Efreet.
But as to the Wezeer, the father of the bride, he returned with his
reason perplexed respecting the case of his daughter, and said to her, O
my daughter, reveal to me thy story. She replied, The elegant person
before whom I was displayed remained with me; and if thou believe me
not, see this is his turban, twisted just as it was, upon the
chair,[IV_52] and his drawers are under the bed, and in them is
something wrapped up: I know not what it is. So, when her father heard
this, he entered the bride-chamber, and found the turban of Ḥasan
Bedr-ed-Deen, the son of his brother; and taking it up, he turned it
over, and said, This is such a turban as is worn by Wezeers, except that
it is of the Móṣilee[IV_53] kind. He then observed an amulet sewed
in his red cloth cap; and he unsewed it; and he took the drawers, and
found the purse containing the thousand pieces of gold, and, opening
this, he discovered in it a paper, which, when he had read it he saw to
be a copy of the Jew's contract, with the name of Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen the
son of Noor-ed-Deen of Cairo; and he found also the thousand pieces of
gold. But when he read the paper he cried aloud and fell down in a
swoon; and as soon as he recovered, and understood the case, he was
astonished, and exclaimed, There is no deity but God, who is able to do
whatsoever He willeth! Then said he, O my daughter, knowest thou who
hath become thy husband? She answered, No.--He is the son of my brother,
said he, and the son of thine uncle; and these thousand pieces of gold
are thy dowry. Extolled be the perfection of God! Would that I knew how
this event hath happened!--Then he opened the amulet that was sewed up,
and found in it a paper written by the hand of his brother Noor-ed-Deen
of Cairo, the father of Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen: and when he beheld the
hand-writing of his brother he repeated this couplet:--
I behold their footsteps, and melt with desire, and pour forth
my tears upon the places they have trodden,
Begging of Him who hath afflicted me by their separation,
that He will bless me some day by a reunion.
[Illustration]
So saying, he read the paper, and found in it the date of his marriage
to the daughter of the Wezeer of El-Baṣrah, and that of his first
introduction to her, and a record of his age at the time of his death,
and the date of the birth of his son Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen; and he
wondered, and shook with delight; and, comparing what had happened to
his brother with the events that had happened to himself, he found that
they corresponded exactly: his marriage and the marriage of his brother
agreed in date, and their first visits to their respective wives in like
manner; as also the birth of Bedr-ed-Deen, the son of his brother, and
the birth of his daughter Sitt-el-Ḥosn. He took the two papers, and,
going up with them to the Sulṭán, he acquainted him with all that had
happened from the first of the case to the last; and the King was
astonished, and ordered that the case should be immediately recorded.
The Wezeer then remained in expectation of the son of his brother; but
he met with no tidings of him: so he said, By Allah, I will do a deed
that none hath done before me:--and he took an ink-case and a pen, and
wrote an inventory of the furniture of the house, describing the
money-chest as having been in such a place, and a certain curtain in
such another place, and everything in the house in like manner; and he
folded up the paper, and ordered that all the furniture should be stored
up; and he took the turban with its ṭarboosh, and also the farajeeyeh
and the purse, and kept them himself.
After this, in due time, the daughter of the Wezeer gave birth to a son
like the moon, resembling his father in beauty and symmetry and
splendour and loveliness. They received him from his mother, and
blackened the edges of his eyes with koḥl,[IV_54] and delivered him
to the nurses, and named him 'Ajeeb.[IV_55] His day was as a month;
and his month, as a year;[IV_56] and when seven years had passed
over him, his grandfather committed him to a schoolmaster, whom he
charged to educate him with great care. He continued at the school four
years, and used to fight with his schoolfellows, and abuse them, saying
to them, Who among you is like me? I am the son of the Wezeer of
Cairo.--So the boys went together to complain to the monitor of that
which they suffered from 'Ajeeb; and the monitor said to them, I will
teach you something to say to him when he cometh, and he shall repent of
his coming to the school; and it is this: to-morrow, when he is come,
seat yourselves around him, and say to one another, By Allah, none shall
play with us at this game excepting him who shall tell us the name of
his mother and that of his father; and he who knoweth not the name of
his mother and that of his father is illegitimate; therefore he shall
not play with us. Accordingly, on the following morning they came to the
school, and 'Ajeeb was there; and the boys surrounded him, and said as
the monitor had directed them, and they all agreed to the proposal; and
one said, My name is Májid, and my mother is 'Alawee, and my father is
'Ezz-ed-Deen:--then another said after the same manner, and another, and
so on, until the turn came to 'Ajeeb; and he said to them, My name is
'Ajeeb, and my mother is Sitt-el-Ḥosn, and my father is Shems-ed-Deen,
the Wezeer of Cairo:--and they said to him, By Allah, the Wezeer is not
thy father. 'Ajeeb replied, the Wezeer is my father indeed:--and upon
this the boys laughed at him, and clapped their hands at him, saying,
Thou knowest not who is thy father: get away from us, therefore; for
none shall play with us excepting him who knoweth the name of his
father:--and immediately the boys dispersed from around him, and made a
jest of him. In consequence of this treatment his heart became
contracted, and he was almost choked with crying; and the monitor said
to him, Dost thou really consider as thy father him who is thy
grandfather, the Wezeer, the father of thy mother Sitt-el-Ḥosn? Thy
father thou knowest not, nor do we know him; for the Sulṭán married her
to the humpbacked groom, and the Jinn came and prevented him: so, if
thou know not thy father, they will regard thee among them as
illegitimate. Dost thou not see that the son of the woman who is coveted
as a wife knoweth his father? The Wezeer of Cairo is thy grandfather;
and as to thy father, we know him not, nor dost thou: return therefore
to thy reason.
[Illustration]
Upon this, 'Ajeeb went immediately to his mother, Sitt-el-Ḥosn, and
complained to her, and wept; and his weeping prevented his speaking: and
when his mother heard his complaint and his crying, her heart was
inflamed for him, and she said to him, O my son, what maketh thee weep?
Tell me thy story.--So he told her what he had heard from the boys and
from the monitor, and said to her, O my mother, who is my father? She
answered him, Thy father is the Wezeer of Cairo. But he said, He is not
my father: tell me not, therefore, what is false; for the Wezeer is thy
father; not mine: who then is my father? If thou do not tell me truly; I
will kill myself with this dagger.--And when his mother heard the
mention of his father, she wept at the allusion to the son of her uncle,
and remembering the amiable qualities of Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen of
El-Baṣrah, and what had happened to herself and him, she recited an ode
commencing thus:--
They excited love in my heart, and departed; and far distant hath
their abode become!
Reason forsook me when they withdrew, and sleep and patience
abandoned me.
And she wept and cried out, and her son did the same; and lo, the Wezeer
entered. His heart burned within him when he beheld their state, and he
said to them, What causeth you to weep? She acquainted him therefore
with the treatment that her son had experienced from the other boys of
the school; and he, also, wept, and called to mind what had happened to
his brother and himself and his daughter, and he knew not the mystery of
the case. Then suddenly he arose, and, going up to the council-chamber,
presented himself before the King, and related to him the story, begging
his permission to travel eastwards to the city of El-Baṣrah, that he
might make inquiries respecting the son of his brother; and requesting
also of the Sulṭán that he would write letters for him to all the
countries through which he might pass, that, if he found the son of his
brother in any place, he might take him away. And he wept before the
Sulṭán, and the heart of the King was moved with compassion for him, and
he wrote for him letters to all the regions and countries; upon which
the Wezeer rejoiced, and, having offered up a prayer for the Sulṭán,
took leave of him.
He descended immediately and prepared for the journey, and, taking with
him all that he required, together with his daughter and her son 'Ajeeb,
travelled the first day and the second and the third, and proceeded
until he arrived at the city of Damascus, and beheld it with its trees
and streams celebrated by the poets. He alighted in the open space
called Meydán el-Ḥaṣbà; and, when he had pitched his tents, said to his
servants, We will take rest here two days. So the servants entered the
city to gratify their various desires; one to sell, another to buy, a
third to enter the bath, and a fourth to visit the mosque of the
Benee-Umeiyeh, which hath not in the world its equal. 'Ajeeb also
entered the city, accompanied by his eunuch, in order to amuse
themselves; and the eunuch walked behind 'Ajeeb, having in his hand a
whip that would strike down a camel. And when the people of Damascus
beheld 'Ajeeb, and his elegance of form and perfect beauty, and observed
him to be endowed with admirable loveliness, and with kindness of
manner, more bland than the northern zephyr, sweeter than limpid water
to the thirsty, and more pleasant than health to the diseased, they
followed him, running after him in crowds; and some sat waiting in the
streets to see him pass. Thus did they until the slave, as destiny had
ordained, stopped before the shop of 'Ajeeb's father, Ḥasan
Bedr-ed-Deen, in which the cook who had acknowledged him as his adopted
son in the presence of the Ḳáḍees and witnesses had established him; and
this cook had died, and left him all his property, together with his
shop.[IV_57]
When the slave stopped there on this day, the servants also stopped with
him: and Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen beheld his son, and was charmed with him,
observing his extreme beauty: his soul yearned towards him with natural
sympathy, and his heart clung to him. He had just prepared a conserve of
pomegranate-grains, sweetened with sugar; and the affection divinely
inspired increased in him; so he called out in ecstasy, and said, O my
master, O thou who hast captivated my heart and soul, and to whom my
affections are drawn by sympathy! wilt thou come in to me and refresh my
heart and eat of my food? And when he had said this, his eyes overflowed
with involuntary tears, and he reflected upon his past experience and
his condition at the present time. When 'Ajeeb heard the address of his
father, his heart was in like manner drawn towards him by sympathy, and
he looked towards the eunuch, and said to him, Verily my heart is moved
with sympathy for this cook: he seemeth to have parted with a son: come
in with us, therefore, that we may refresh his heart and eat his
offering of hospitality: perhaps God, through our so doing, may
accomplish our union with our father. But the eunuch replied, By Allah,
O my master, it is not proper. How should we, who are of the family of
the Wezeer, eat in the shop of a cook? I will, however, drive away the
people from thee, lest they see thee: otherwise it will be impossible
for thee to enter the shop. On hearing the reply of the eunuch,
Bedr-ed-Deen was surprised, and, looking towards him, while his tears
flowed down his cheeks, said to him, Verily my heart loveth him.--Let us
hear no more of these words, said the eunuch:--and he desired the youth
not to enter: but the father of 'Ajeeb cast his eyes upon the eunuch,
and said, Great sir, wherefore wilt thou not refresh my heart and come
in to me? O thou who resemblest black dust, but whose heart is white! O
thou who hast been described in such and such terms of praise!--so that
the eunuch laughed, and said, What wouldst thou say? Speak, and be
brief.--And Bedr-ed-Deen recited this couplet:--
Were it not for his accomplishments and admirable faithfulness,
he had not been invested with authority in the abode of Kings.
What an excellent guardian for the ḥareem is he! On account
of his beauty the angels of heaven wait upon him!
This address pleased the eunuch so much that he took the hand of 'Ajeeb,
and entered the cook's shop; and Bedr-ed-Deen ladled out a saucerful of
conserve of pomegranate-grains prepared with almonds and sugar, and the
slave and the youth ate together; Bedr-ed-Deen saying to them, Ye have
delighted me by your company: eat, and may it benefit you! 'Ajeeb then
said to his father, Sit down and eat with us; and perhaps God will unite
us to him whom we desire. And Bedr-ed-Deen said, O my son, hast thou
been afflicted in thy tender years by the separation of those whom thou
lovest?--Yes, O uncle, answered 'Ajeeb: my heart is inflamed by the
absence of one of those who are dear to me: the friend who hath
withdrawn himself from me is my father, and I and my grandfather have
come abroad to search for him through the world; and how do I sigh for
my union with him!--And he wept bitterly; and his father, moved by his
tears, wept with him, reflecting upon his own desolate state, separated
from those he loved, deprived of his father, and far removed from his
mother; and the eunuch was moved with compassion for him.
[Illustration]
They all ate together until they were satisfied; after which, the youth
and the slave arose, and quitted the shop of Bedr-ed-Deen, who felt as
if his soul had departed from his body and gone with them. He could not
endure their absence for the twinkling of an eye; so he shut up his shop
and followed them, though ignorant that the youth was his son, and
walked quickly until he came up to them before they had gone out from
the great gate; whereupon the eunuch, looking back at him, said, What
dost thou want, O cook? Bedr-ed-Deen answered, When ye departed from me,
I felt as if my soul had quitted my body, and, having some business in
the suburb, I was desirous of accompanying you to transact my business,
and, after that, to return. But the eunuch was angry, and said to
'Ajeeb, Verily this repast was unlucky: respectful treatment hath become
incumbent on us; and see, he is following us from place to place. 'Ajeeb
therefore looked round, and, seeing the cook, was enraged, and his face
became red; but he said to the eunuch, Suffer him to walk in the public
road of the Muslims; but when we shall have turned from it to our tents,
if he do the same, and we know that he is following us, we will drive
him back. And he hung down his head and went on, with the eunuch behind
him. Bedr-ed-Deen, however, followed them to the Meydán el-Ḥaṣbà, and
when they had drawn near to the tents they looked back and saw him
behind them; and 'Ajeeb was angry, fearing that the eunuch might inform
his grandfather, and lest it should be said that he had entered the
cook's shop, and that the cook had followed him. He looked at him till
his eyes met the eye of his father, who had become as a body without a
soul; and he fancied that his eye bore an expression of deceit, and that
he was perhaps a knave: so his anger increased, and he took up a stone,
and threw it at his father, and the stone struck him on the forehead,
and wounded him, and he fell down in a swoon, the blood flowing over his
face. 'Ajeeb went on with the eunuch to the tents; and Ḥasan
Bedr-ed-Deen, when he recovered his senses, wiped off the blood, and,
having cut off a piece of linen from his turban, bound up his head with
it, blaming himself, and saying, I wronged the youth when I shut up my
shop and followed him, so he thought I was a deceiver. He then returned
to his shop, and occupied himself with the sale of his meats; and he
yearned with desire for his mother, who was at El-Baṣrah.
The Wezeer, his uncle, remained at Damascus three days, and then
departed to Ḥemṣ, and, having entered this town, proceeded thence,
inquiring at every place where he halted in his journey until he had
arrived at Márideen and El-Mósil and Diyár Bekr. He continued his
journey until he arrived at the city of El-Baṣrah, and when he had
entered it and taken up his quarters, he went and presented himself
before the Sulṭán, who received him with respect and honour, and
inquired the reason of his coming: so he acquainted him with his story,
and informed him that the Wezeer 'Alee Noor-ed-Deen was his brother. The
Sulṭán ejaculated, God have mercy upon him![IV_58]--and said, O
Ṣáḥeb,[IV_59] he was my Wezeer, and I loved him much: he died
twelve years[IV_60] ago, and left a son; but we have lost him, and
have heard no tidings of him: his mother, however, is with us, for she
is the daughter of my old Wezeer. On hearing from the King that the
mother of his nephew was alive, the Wezeer Shems-ed-Deen rejoiced, and
said, I am desirous of having an interview with her. And the King gave
him immediate permission to visit her at his brother's house: so he went
thither, and kissed the threshold, and, entering an open court, found a
door over-arched with hard stone inlaid with various kinds of marble of
every colour; and he walked along by the walls of the house, and as he
cast his eyes around upon them he observed the name of his brother
Noor-ed-Deen inscribed on them in characters of gold; and he went to the
name, and kissed it, and wept. He then advanced to the saloon of his
brother's wife, the mother of Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen of El-Baṣrah. During
the absence of her son she had given herself up to weeping and wailing
night and day; and after she had long suffered from his separation she
made for her son a tomb of marble in the midst of the saloon, where she
wept for him night and day, sleeping nowhere but by this tomb. And when
Shems-ed-Deen arrived at her apartment he heard her voice apostrophizing
the tomb; and while she was thus occupied he entered and saluted her,
and informed her that he was her husband's brother, acquainting her with
what had passed, and revealing to her the particulars of the story. He
told her that her son Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen had passed a whole night with
his daughter, and disappeared in the morning, and that his daughter had
borne him a son, whom he had brought with him: and when she heard this
news of her son, and that he was perhaps still living, and beheld her
husband's brother, she fell at his feet and kissed them, addressing him
with this couplet:--
Divinely is he inspired who acquainteth me with their approach;
for he hath brought information most delightful to be heard.
If he would be satisfied with that which is cast off,[IV_61]
I would give him a heart rent in pieces at the hour
of valediction.
The Wezeer then sent to bring 'Ajeeb; and when he came, his grandmother
rose to him, and embraced him, and wept; but Shems-ed-Deen said to her,
This is not a time for weeping, but rather a time for preparing thyself
to accompany us on our return to the land of Egypt: and perhaps God may
unite us with thy son, my nephew. She replied, I hear and obey:--and,
arising immediately, collected all her property and treasures, and her
female slaves, and forthwith prepared herself: after which the Wezeer,
Shems-ed-Deen, went up again to the Sulṭán of El-Baṣrah, and took leave
of him; and the King sent with him presents and rarities for the Sulṭán
of Egypt.
[Illustration]
The Wezeer departed without delay, accompanied by his brother's wife,
and continued his journey until he arrived at the city of Damascus,
where he alighted again, and encamped, and said to his attendants, We
will remain at Damascus a week, to buy, for the Sulṭán, presents and
rarities. 'Ajeeb then said to the eunuch, Boy,[IV_62] I long for a
little diversion: arise, therefore, and let us go to the market of
Damascus, and see what is going on there, and what hath happened to that
cook whose confection we ate and whose head we broke, notwithstanding he
had treated us with kindness: we acted ill towards him. The eunuch
replied, I hear and obey:--and 'Ajeeb went forth with him from the
tents, the tie of blood inciting him to visit his father and they
entered the city, and proceeded to the shop of the cook, whom they found
standing there. It was then near the time of afternoon-prayers; and it
happened that he had again just prepared a confection of
pomegranate-grains; and when they drew near to him, the heart of 'Ajeeb
yearned towards him when he saw him, and he perceived the scar
occasioned by the stone that he had thrown. He said to him, Peace be on
thee! Know that my heart is with thee.--And when Bedr-ed-Deen beheld
him, his affections were engrossed by him, and his heart throbbed with
emotion towards him, and he hung down his head, desiring to adapt his
tongue to speech, and unable to do so: but presently he raised his head,
and, looking towards the youth in an humble and abject manner, recited
these verses:--
I wished for my beloved; but when I beheld him I was confounded
and possessed neither tongue nor eye.
I hung down my head in honour and reverence, and would have hidden
what I felt; but it would not be concealed.
I had prepared a volume of expostulation; but when we met
I remembered not a word.
He then said to them, Refresh ye my heart, and eat of my food; for, by
Allah, as soon as I beheld thee, my heart yearned towards thee, and I
had not followed thee unless I had been deprived of my reason.--By
Allah, replied 'Ajeeb, thou dost indeed love us, and we ate a morsel
with thee; but after it thou keptest close behind us and wouldst have
disgraced us: we will not eat again with thee, therefore, but on the
condition of thy swearing that thou wilt not follow us; and otherwise we
will not come to thee again henceforth; for we are staying at this city
a week, in order that my grandfather may procure presents for the
King.--I bind myself, said Bedr-ed-Deen, to do as ye desire. So 'Ajeeb
entered the shop with the eunuch, and Bedr-ed-Deen placed before them a
saucer filled with the confection of pomegranate-grains; upon which
'Ajeeb said to him, Eat with us; and may God dispel our affliction:--and
Bedr-ed-Deen was delighted, and he ate with them; but he turned not his
eyes from the youth; for his heart and all his faculties were captivated
by him. 'Ajeeb, observing this, said to him, Knowest thou not that I
told thee thou wast a rude doter? Enough of this: continue not to gaze
at my face.--Bedr-ed-Deen, therefore, apologized to him, and began to
put morsels into the mouth of 'Ajeeb, and then did the same to the
eunuch. Afterwards he poured the water upon their hands, and when they
had washed he loosed a napkin of silk from his waist and wiped them with
it. He next sprinkled rose-water upon them from a bottle that was in his
shop, and went out, and returned with two cups of sherbet prepared with
rose-water infused with musk, and, placing these before them, he said,
Complete your kindness. So 'Ajeeb took a cup and drank; and Bedr-ed-Deen
handed the other to the eunuch; and both drank until their stomachs were
full, and gratified their appetites to a degree beyond their usual
habit.
[Illustration]
They then departed, and hastened back to the tents, and 'Ajeeb went in
to his grandmother, the mother of his father Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen; and she
kissed him, and said, Where hast thou been? He answered, In the city.
And she arose, and brought him a saucer of confection of
pomegranate-grains, which happened to be somewhat deficient in
sweetness; and she said to the eunuch, Sit down with thy master. The
eunuch said within himself, By Allah, we have no appetite. He, however,
seated himself, and 'Ajeeb did the same, though satiated with what he
had eaten and drunk, and dipped a morsel of bread in the confection, and
ate it; but it seemed to him insipid, on account of his being thus
cloyed, and he loathed it, and said, What is this nasty dish?--O my
child, said his grandmother, dost thou find fault with my cookery? It
was I who prepared it; and, except thy father, Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen, there
is none who can cook it as well as myself.--By Allah, O my mistress,
replied 'Ajeeb, This thy dish is not well prepared: we have just now
seen in the city a cook who had prepared a confection of
pomegranate-grains, but its odour was such as to dilate the heart, and
the confection itself, such as to excite appetite in one already
satiated: as to thine, in comparison with his, it is good for nothing.
His grandmother, on hearing this, fell into a violent rage, and turning
towards the eunuch, said to him, Wo to thee! Hast thou corrupted my
child? Thou hast taken him into the shops of the cooks!--The eunuch
feared, and denied, saying, We did not enter the shop, but only passed
by it:--but 'Ajeeb said, By Allah, we entered and ate, and what we ate
was better than this mess of thine. And upon this his grandmother arose,
and informed her husband's brother, and incensed him against the eunuch.
The slave was therefore brought before the Wezeer, and he said to him,
Wherefore didst thou take my child into the cook's shop? The eunuch,
fearing, said again, We did not enter.--Nay, said 'Ajeeb, we did enter,
and ate of a confection of pomegranate-grains until we were satiated,
and the cook gave us to drink sherbet with ice and sugar. The Wezeer's
anger with the eunuch now increased, and he asked him again; but still
he denied. Then said the Wezeer, If thine assertion be true, sit down
and eat before us. The eunuch therefore advanced, and would have eaten;
but he could not; and he threw down the morsel that was in his hand, and
said, O my master, I am satiated since yesterday. And by this the Wezeer
knew that he had eaten in the shop of the cook: so he ordered the female
slaves to throw him down upon the ground, and they did so, and he gave
him a severe beating, while the slave cried for mercy, but still saying,
I am satiated since yesterday! The Wezeer then interrupted the beating,
and said to him, Declare the truth. And at length the eunuch said, Know
that we did enter the shop of the cook while he was cooking
pomegranate-grains, and he ladled out for us some of the confection,
and, by Allah, I never in my life ate any like it, or any more
detestable than this which is before us.
The mother of Bedr-ed-Deen, enraged at this, said, Thou shalt go to this
cook and bring us a saucerful of his confection and shew it to thy
master, that he may say which of the two is the better and the more
delicious.--Well, replied the eunuch: and immediately she gave him a
saucer, and half a piece of gold; and he went to the shop, and said to
the cook, We have laid a wager respecting thy confection at the tent of
our master; for there is a mess of pomegranate-grains cooked by the
family: give us, therefore, for this half-piece of gold, and apply
thyself to prepare it perfectly; for we have received an excruciating
beating on account of thy cookery. Laughing at these words, Bedr-ed-Deen
replied, By Allah, none excelleth in the preparation of this confection
except myself and my mother, and she is now in a distant country. And he
ladled out as much as filled the saucer, and perfected it by the
addition of some musk and rose-water. The eunuch then hastened back with
it to the family; and the mother of Ḥasan took it, and, tasting its
delicious flavour, immediately knew who had prepared it, and shrieked,
and fell down in a swoon. The Wezeer was amazed at the event; and they
sprinkled some rose-water upon her, and when she recovered she said, If
my son be yet in the world, no one but he cooked this confection: he is
my son Ḥasan Bedr-ed-Deen without doubt: for none but he can prepare
this, except myself, and it was I who taught him to do it.
[Illustration]
When the Wezeer heard these words, he rejoiced exceedingly, and
exclaimed, Oh, how I long to behold my brother's son! Will fortune,
indeed, unite us with him? But I look not for our union from any but
God, whose name be exalted!--And he instantly arose, and called out to
his male attendants, saying, Let twenty men of you go to the shop of the
cook, and demolish it, and bind his hands behind him with his turban,
and drag him hither by force, but without any injury to his person. They
replied, Well. The Wezeer then rode immediately to the palace, and,
presenting himself before the Viceroy of Damascus, shewed him the
contents of the letters which he had brought from the Sulṭán; and the
Viceroy, after kissing them, put them to his head, and said, Who is
thine offender? He answered, A man who is by trade a cook. And instantly
the Viceroy ordered his Chamberlains to repair to his shop; and they
went thither; but found it demolished, and everything that had been in
it broken; for when the Wezeer went to the palace, his servants did as
he had commanded them. They were then waiting his return from the
palace; and Bedr-ed-Deen was saying within himself, What can they have
discovered in the confection, that such an event as this should have
befallen me? And when the Wezeer returned from the Viceroy, and had
received his permission to take his offender and to depart with him, he
entered the encampment, and called for the cook. They brought him,
therefore, with his hands bound behind him with his turban; and when he
saw his uncle he wept bitterly, and said, O my master, what crime have
ye found in me? The Wezeer said to him, Art thou he who cooked the
confection of pomegranate-grains? He answered, Yes: and have ye found in
it anything that requires one's head to be struck off? This, replied the
Wezeer, is the smallest part of thy recompense.--Wilt thou not, said
Bedr-ed-Deen, acquaint me with my crime? The Wezeer answered, Yea,
immediately. And forthwith he called out to the young men, saying, Bring
the camels!
They then took Bedr-ed-Deen, and put him in a chest, and, having locked
him up in it, commenced their journey, and continued on their way till
the approach of night, when they halted and ate, and, taking out
Bedr-ed-Deen, fed him; after which they put him again into the chest,
and in like manner proceeded to another station. Here also they took him
out; and the Wezeer said to him, Art thou he who cooked the confection
of pomegranate grains? He answered, Yes, O my master. And the Wezeer
said, Shackle his feet. And they did so, and restored him to the chest.
They then continued their journey to Cairo; and when they arrived at the
quarter called Er-Reydáneeyeh,[IV_63] the Wezeer commanded to take
out Bedr-ed-Deen again from the chest, and to bring a carpenter, to whom
he said, Make, for this man, a cross.[IV_64]--What, said
Bedr-ed-Deen, dost thou mean to do with it? The Wezeer answered, I will
crucify thee upon it, and nail thee to it, and then parade thee about
the city.--Wherefore, demanded Bedr-ed-Deen, wilt thou treat me
thus?--The Wezeer replied, For thy faulty preparation of the confection
of pomegranate-grains, because thou madest it deficient in
pepper.--Because of its deficiency in pepper, exclaimed Bedr-ed-Deen,
wilt thou do all this to me? Art thou not satisfied with having thus
imprisoned me, and fed me every day with only one meal?--The Wezeer
answered, For its deficiency in pepper, thy recompense shall be nothing
less than death. And Bedr-ed-Deen was amazed, and bewailed his lot, and
remained a while absorbed in reflection. The Wezeer, therefore, said to
him, Of what art thou thinking? He answered, Of imbecile minds, such as
thine; for if thou wert a man of sense thou wouldst not have treated me
in this manner on account of the deficiency of pepper.--It is incumbent
on us, replied the Wezeer, to punish thee, that thou mayest not do the
like again:--to which Bedr-ed-Deen rejoined, The least of the things
thou hast done to me were a sufficient punishment. The Wezeer, however,
said, Thy death is unavoidable.--All this conversation took place while
the carpenter was preparing the cross; and Bedr-ed-Deen was looking on.
Thus they both continued until the approach of night, when
Bedr-ed-Deen's uncle took him and put him again into the chest, saying,
To-morrow shall be thy crucifixion. He then waited until he perceived
that he was asleep; upon which he remounted, and, with the chest borne
before him, entered the city, and repaired to his house: and when he had
arrived there he said to his daughter Sitt-el-Ḥosn, Praise be to God who
hath restored to thee the son of thine uncle! Arise, and furnish the
house as it was on the night of the bridal display.--She therefore
ordered her female slaves to do so; and they arose, and lighted the
candles; and the Wezeer brought out the paper upon which he had written
his inventory of the furniture of the house, and read it, and ordered
them to put every thing in its place, so that the beholder would not
doubt that this was the very night of the bridal display. He directed
them to put Bedr-ed-Deen's turban in the place where its owner had
deposited it, and in like manner the trousers, and the purse which was
beneath the mattress, and ordered his daughter to adorn herself as she
was on the bridal night, and to enter the bride-chamber; saying to her,
When the son of thine uncle comes into thy chamber, say to him, Thou
hast loitered since thou withdrewest from me this night:--and request
him to return and converse with thee till day.--Having thus arranged
everything, the Wezeer took out Bedr-ed-Deen from the chest, removed the
shackles from his feet, and stripped him of his outer clothes, leaving
him in his shirt.
All this was done while he was asleep, unconscious of what was passing;
and when he awoke, and found himself in an illuminated vestibule, he
said, within himself, Am I bewildered by dreams, or am I awake? Then
rising, he advanced a little way to an inner door, and looked, and lo,
he was in the house in which the bride had been displayed, and he beheld
the bride-chamber and the couch and his turban and clothes. Confounded
at the sight of these things, he took one step forwards and another
backwards, thinking, Am I asleep or awake? And he began to wipe his
forehead, and exclaimed in his astonishment,
[Illustration]
By Allah, this is the dwelling of the bride who was here displayed
before me: and yet I was just now in a chest. And while he was
addressing himself, behold Sitt-el-Ḥosn lifted up the corner of the
musquito curtain, and said, O my master, wilt thou not come in? for thou
hast loitered since thou withdrewest from me this night. When he heard
these words he looked at her face, and laughed, and said, Verily, these
appearances are bewildering illusions of a dream! Then entering, he
sighed; and as he reflected upon what had happened to him, he was
perplexed at his situation, and his case seemed involved in obscurity.
Looking at his turban and trousers, and the purse containing the
thousand pieces of gold, he exclaimed, Allah is all-knowing!--but it
seemeth to me that I am bewildered by dreams!--And he was confounded in
the excess of his astonishment. Upon this, therefore, Sitt-el-Ḥosn said
to him, Wherefore do I behold thee thus astonished and perplexed? Thou
wast not so in the commencement of the night.--And he laughed, and asked
her, How many years have I been absent from thee?--Allah preserve thee!
she exclaimed. The name of Allah encompass thee![IV_65] Thou hast
only withdrawn to yonder apartment. What hath passed in thy mind?--On
hearing this he smiled, and replied, Thou hast spoken truth; but when I
withdrew from thee, sleep overcame me, and I dreamt that I was a cook in
Damascus, and that I lived there twelve years;[IV_66] and I
thought that a youth of the sons of the great came to me, accompanied
by a eunuch,--and he proceeded to relate what had happened to him in
consequence of this youth's visit: then drawing his hand over his
forehead, he felt the scar occasioned by the blow, and exclaimed, By
Allah, O my mistress, it seemeth as though it were true; for he struck
me with a stone upon my forehead, and cut it open: it seemeth,
therefore, as though this had really happened when I was awake: but
probably this dream occurred when we were both asleep. I imagined in my
dream that I was transported to Damascus, without ṭarboosh or turban or
trousers, and that I followed the occupation of a cook.--And again, for
a while, he remained utterly confounded. He then said, By Allah, I
imagined that I made a confection of pomegranate-grains containing but
little pepper. Verily I must have been asleep, and in my sleep have seen
all this.--I conjure thee by Allah, said Sitt-el-Ḥosn, tell me what more
thou sawest? And he related to her the whole; and added, If I had not
awaked, they would have crucified me upon a wooden cross.--On account of
what? said she. He answered, On account of the deficiency of pepper in
the confection of pomegranate-grains; and I imagined that they
demolished my shop, and broke all my vessels, and put me in a chest, and
brought the carpenter to make a cross of wood; for they intended to
crucify me upon it. Praise be to God, therefore, who caused all this to
occur to me in sleep, and caused it not to happen to me when I was
awake!--Sitt-el-Ḥosn, laughing at his words, pressed him to her bosom,
and he in like manner embraced her. Then reflecting again, he said, By
Allah, it seems as if it had happened when I was awake; and I knew not
the reason, nor the truth of the case.--And he composed himself to
sleep, perplexed with his case, and sometimes saying, I saw it in my
sleep,--and other times, I experienced it awake.
Thus he continued until the morning, when his uncle, the Wezeer
Shems-ed-Deen, came in to him, and saluted him; and Bedr-ed-Deen, as
soon as he beheld him, exclaimed, I conjure thee by Allah, tell me art
not thou he who gave orders to bind my hands behind me, and to nail up
my shop, on account of the confection of pomegranate-grains, because it
was deficient in pepper? The Wezeer answered, Know, O my son, that the
truth hath appeared, and what was hidden hath been manifested. Thou art
the son of my brother; and I did not this but to know if thou wert he
who visited my daughter on that night. I was not convinced of this until
I saw that thou knewest the house, and thy turban and trousers and gold,
and the two papers; namely, the one which thou wrotest, and that which
thy father, my brother, wrote: for I had never seen thee before, and
therefore knew thee not; and as to thy mother, I have brought her with
me from El-Baṣrah.--Having thus said, he threw himself upon him, and
wept; and Bedr-ed-Deen, full of astonishment at his uncle's words,
embraced him, and in like manner wept from excess of joy. The Wezeer
then said to him, O my son, the cause of all this was what passed
between me and thy father. And he related to him the circumstances of
their case, and the cause of his father's departure to El-Baṣrah; after
which he sent for 'Ajeeb; and when the father of the youth saw him, he
exclaimed, This is he who threw the stone at me.--This, said the Wezeer,
is thy son. And Bedr-ed-Deen cast himself upon him, and recited the
following verses:--
Long have I wept on account of our disunion; the tears overflowing
from my eyelids;
And I vowed that if Providence should bring us together, I would
never again mention our separation.
Joy hath overcome me to such a degree that by its excess it hath
made me weep.
O eye, thou hast become so accustomed to tears that thou weepest
from happiness as from grief.[IV_67]
And when he had uttered these words, his mother, beholding him, threw
herself upon him, and repeated this couplet:--
Fortune made a vow to torment me incessantly; but thine oath
hath proved false, O Fortune; therefore expiate it.[IV_63]
Happiness hath arrived, and the beloved is come to my relief:
repair then to the messenger of festivity, and hasten.
She afterwards related to him everything that had happened to her; and
he also acquainted her with all that he had suffered; and they offered
up thanks to God for their union. The Wezeer then went up to the Sulṭán,
and informed him of these occurrences; and the King was astonished, and
ordered that a statement of them should be inserted in the records, to
be preserved to future ages. And the Wezeer resided with his brother's
son, and his own daughter and her son, and with the wife of his brother;
and all of them passed their lives in the enjoyment of the utmost
happiness until they were visited by the terminator of delights, and the
separator of companions.[IV_69]
Such, O Prince of the Faithful, said Jaạfar, were the events that
happened to the Wezeer Shems-ed-Deen and his brother Noor-ed-Deen.--By
Allah, exclaimed the Khaleefeh Hároon Er-Rasheed, this story is
wonderful! And he gave one of his own concubines to the young man who
had killed his wife, and appointed him a regular maintenance; and the
young man became one of his companions at the table.
[Illustration]
NOTES TO CHAPTER FOURTH.
NOTE 1. From the close of Chapter iii., the order of the tales in this
translation (agreeably with the Cairo edition) differs from that which
is followed in the old version.
NOTE 2. This alludes to the poor man's want of sufficient clothing; for,
in the climate of Baghdád, a person who is not very scantily clad is in
little need of a fire to warm himself.
NOTE 3. My sheykh has remarked, in a marginal note, that these verses
would be appropriate only from the mouth of a learned man complaining of
the unprofitableness of his science with respect to procuring him money;
but perhaps, in writing this, he was actuated by a somewhat over-zealous
regard for the honour of his own profession; for, when a poor man has
acquired a little knowledge, his neighbours are apt to flatter him.
NOTE 4. The "izár" has been described in the second note to Chapter iii.
NOTE 5. Literally, "the sons of thine uncle;" but the meaning is, "thy
kinsmen."
NOTE 6.--_On Bastinading._ In Arabian, and some other Eastern,
countries, it is a common custom, when a person is accused of a crime
before a magistrate, and denies his guilt, to bastinade him, in order to
induce him to confess; and even witnesses, sometimes, are treated in the
same manner. The beating is usually inflicted with a kurbáj (a thong or
whip of hippopotamus' hide hammered into a round form) or with a stick,
and generally on the soles of the feet. For this purpose the feet are
confined by a chain or rope attached at each end to a staff, which is
turned round to tighten it. This is called a "falaḳah." Two persons (one
on each side) strike alternately; and the punishment is often continued
until the sufferer becomes insensible, and even longer.
NOTE 7.--_Of Sales by Auction._ In many of the sooḳs (market-streets, or
bázárs) in Arabian cities, auctions are held on stated days, once or
more frequently in every week. They are conducted by brokers (delláls),
hired either by private persons or by shopkeepers. These brokers carry
the goods up and down the street, announcing the sums bidden, with cries
of "ḥaráj," &c.; and the shopkeepers, as well as others, purchase of
them.
NOTE 8. I have before mentioned, that this horrid mode of punishing a
woman suspected of incontinence is not unfrequently practised among the
Arabs. Many similar cases have been mentioned to me in Egypt as having
occurred in that country in the present age; and often the murder is
committed by the father or a brother of the woman, as her relations are
considered as more disgraced than the husband by her crime. The present
tale is probably founded on some particular occurrence of this kind. One
is related as having happened in the reign of the Khaleefeh El-Moạtaḍid.
In this case, some limbs of the murdered woman, in two leathern bags,
were brought up from the bed of the Tigris in the net of a
fisherman.[276] [Such barbarity, however, is contrary to law, as is
stated in two former notes.--ED.]
NOTE 9.--_Of the Retaliation of Injuries on the Day of Resurrection._
The "examination being past, and every one's works weighed in a just
balance, that mutual retaliation will follow according to which every
creature will take vengeance one of another, or have satisfaction made
to him for the injuries which he hath suffered. And since there will
then be no other way of returning like for like, the manner of giving
this satisfaction will be, by taking away a proportionable part of the
good works of him who offered the injury, and adding it to those of him
who suffered it. Which being done, if the angels (by whose ministry this
is to be performed) say, 'Lord, we have given to every one his due, and
there remaineth of this person's good works so much as equalleth the
weight of an ant,' God will of his mercy cause it to be doubled unto
him, that he may be admitted into Paradise; but if, on the contrary, his
good works be exhausted, and there remain evil works only, and there be
any who have not yet received satisfaction from him, God will order that
an equal weight of their sins be added unto his, that he may be punished
for them in their stead, and he will be sent to Hell laden with
both."[277]
NOTE 10. "Reyḥán" is a common proper name of men, now commonly given to
slaves; and the name of the sweet basil in particular (also called
"reeḥán") and of sweet-smelling plants in general. It also signifies
"any favour of God," "the supplies necessary for subsistence," "a son,"
&c.
NOTE 11. This ejaculation is addressed to God.
NOTE 12. In the original, "Miṣr," _vulg._, "Maṣr." This is the name
which the Arabs give to Egypt, and which they have also given to its
successive capitals, or seats of government, Memphis, Egyptian Babylon,
El-Fusṭáṭ, and El-Ḳáhireh, or Cairo. It is here applied to Cairo, as
will be shewn by the following note, and by the sequel of the tale,
though this city was not founded until long after the reign of Hároon
Er-Rasheed. I may here remark, that I have not found the name of "Miṣr"
applied to Cairo in any Arabic work anterior to the conquest of Egypt by
the 'Osmánlee Turks, which happened in the year of the Flight 923 (A.D.
1517). El-Fusṭáṭ retained this appellation in the time of Es-Suyooṭee,
who died in the year of the Flight 911, but it ceased to do so before
the time of El-Is-ḥáḳee, who brought down his history to the month of
Ramaḍán, 1032 (A.D. 1623). It is probable, therefore, that the name of
"Misr"[typo Miṣr] was transferred to Cairo on the occasion of the
conquest by the Turks. I must not assert, that this observation alone
enables us to form a decided judgment as to the period when this work
was composed, as it may be objected that copyists have perhaps
substituted "Miṣr" for "El-Ḳáhireh;" but I persue the inquiry in the
next note.
NOTE 13.--_On several Evidences of the Period when this Work, in the
states in which it is known to us, was composed or compiled or
remodelled._ The tale here presents another anachronism. The title of
"Sulṭán," as a prefix, was first borne by Maḥmood Ibn-Sabuktekeen, in
the year of the Flight 393, just two hundred years after the death of
Hároon Er-Rasheed; and there was no Sulṭán of Egypt until the year of
the Flight 567 of a little later; the first being the famous
Ṣaláḥ-ed-Deen, or Saladin.
I have now given several data upon which to found a reasonable opinion
as to the age when these tales, in the states in which they are known
to us, were composed or compiled or remodelled. First, in Note 55 to